The present invention relates to movement and placement of heavy components, and more particularly, this invention relates to uprighting and positioning servers at customer sites.
Generally, when a heavy or bulky component is shipped to a location, such as a customer site, the component is packaged with the longest side of the component resting horizontally on a shipping pallet. In some instances, a user at the location, such as a customer engineer, must change the orientation of the component to a vertical position before attempting to install the component into other systems resident at the location.
When the weight of the component significantly exceeds a specified limit for a single person lift (for example, about 39.7 lb) then a situation exists where a user could potentially injure himself or damage the component when trying to place the component into the proper vertical position. Known solutions to this problem have largely been limited to providing a good hand hold (or multiple hand holds) on the component and ensuring that the product packaging is designed to allow adequate access to the component. However, this approach does not recognize human limitations and requires a level of strength, coordination, and balance that many individuals may not possess, and therefore is not an acceptable solution for many users. For example, in some instances, the heavy component to be lifted may weigh more than the user who is trying to lift it.
It is apparent that a new approach is needed, an approach that gives the user some sort of mechanical advantage to aid in the lifting of the heavy component.